Hi everyone,Many TORN members participated in the first phase of The Hobbit Audience Project, which explored people's expectations and concerns about the film prior to its release. I want to sincerely thank all of those who completed the survey, and to let you know that we are working hard to analyse all of that very interesting data so that we can release a summary of key findings in the next month or so. We will post a link to this summary this on TORN. In the meantime, we are gearing up for the second phase of our project, which is the main reception study where we are asking for people's views on the film now that so many have had the chance to see it. To help make sure the survey itself is working properly and to ensure we iron out any bugs or mistakes before going live, we are looking for a few willing beta testers from around the world to complete the survey online and give their feedback. If you would be willing to do so, please message me and I'll send you the weblink. Completing the survey and giving feedback on it will take around 30 minutes of your time, and doesn't preclude you participating in the main survey once it is up and running (although you may want to save your more detailed comments about your response to the film for the survey proper, which we are hoping will be ready to go live next week). Many thanks in advance, I really do appreciate it!Carolyn Michelle Lead researcher, The Hobbit Audience Project

Thanks to everyone who participated in beta testing our survey; we are now ready to launch the second phase of The Hobbit Audience Project! THE INTERNATIONAL HOBBIT AUDIENCE PROJECTIn this survey we are keen to hear people’s thoughts, responses and feelings about The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey following its international release, and we’d like to hear from people with all kinds of views - from those who loved the film as well as those who hated it or were critical of some particular aspects of the film’s production. Whatever you thought of The Hobbit, we’d really love to hear from you! You can participate in the survey here: http://flashq.rcc.ryerson.ca/Hobbit/

Please note that as this survey uses Flash, it won’t work on Apple iPads, but may work on other tablet devices. A large-screen laptop or desktop computer is ideal.

About us: We’re a team of academic researchers located at the University of Waikato (Hamilton, New Zealand) and Ryerson University (Toronto, Canada). We are interested in the nature of audience reception, and in understanding why different people often have very different views and understandings of the same film. What is involved: Completing the survey will take around 30 minutes, and involves a combination of sorting and ranking a selection of statements relating to The Hobbit, as well as a more traditional questionnaire with click responses and a few open ended questions where you can tell us what you really thought of the film, in your own words. If you do decide to complete the survey, or want to learn more about the project before deciding, clicking http://flashq.rcc.ryerson.ca/Hobbit/ will take you to the formal consent agreement, which looks rather ominous but provides important details about the project and your rights as a research participant. The most important things to know are that your participation is entirely voluntary, your answers will remain anonymous, and you can say as much or as little as you wish. Thank you! Lay hah-non!Carolyn Michelle (PhD)Lead researcher, The Hobbit Audience project